Masai Ujiri, the former General Manager and Current President of Basketball Operations of the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA) does not require much introduction to many fans.
Attention is not only drawn to him for his 6ft 4” height but also for his charisma.
Masai was born in Bournemouth, England, where his parents were studying.
With the family moving back to Nigeria when he was two years old, he grew up in Zaria area.
His father Michael Ujiri, a hospital administrator and nursing educator, was an Isoko from Aviara in Delta state
However, Masai’s mother Paula Grace, a doctor, is Kenyan, of the Kamba people to be specific, from Machakos.
Masai visited Kenya in 2016 to make a connection with his maternal roots.
“My mother is from Machakos, it’s something many people don’t know,” stated the former basketball player during his visit to Kenya.
He further revealed that despite not being born or brought up in Kenya, he still had a connection to the country by his name and his sister’s too.
Masai informed the media that his sister's name was Nthenya Ujiri.
He was the GM at Toronto from may of 2013 to September of 2016 and was credited with the largest stake at building the current team that won the NBA championship trophy for the first time in the franchise’s history as the president of basketball operations.
During the 2019 NBA finals, Masai personally invited former US president Barack Obama to the games which saw his team win the championship on game six of the seven final games by beating the Golden State Warriors by four games to two.
